Historic Philadelphia’s youngest performer nerds out on history

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As a self-described history nerd, Zoe Levenstien, 17, of Fairmount, has been visiting the historic sites of Independence National Historic Park every summer for most of her life.

Unlike many Philadelphians who wait for visitors to come in from out of town before exploring downtown historic sites, Levenstien eagerly looks forward to Historic Philadelphia, Inc.’s annual “Once Upon a Nation” storytelling benches placed throughout the historic district.

“Every summer, from probably 4 years old and on, my family would come down and do the benches,” she said. “We would do all the benches at least once a summer, sometimes twice or three times.”

She got to know particular performers and sought them out, like Courtney Mitchell, who has been with Historic Philadelphia since 2008.

“She was my favorite when I was little. She would also work the Christmas Village at Macy’s so I would see her there, too,” Levenstien said. “She’s so animated. She’s so into every single move that she does. She is such a ball of energy.”

Now Levenstien is on the other side of the bench as the youngest storyteller in the “Once Upon a Nation” roster of 40 performers. Stationed outside Carpenters’ Hall wearing the uniform of a beige polo shirt, she waits for visitors to amble by and asks if they would like to hear a story from Philadelphia’s history.

She has three to choose from: a clandestine meeting in 1775 at Carpenters’ Hall between Benjamin Franklin and a French spy; Jane Johnson, an enslaved woman from North Carolina who escaped to freedom in Philadelphia; and the United States’ first bank robbery at Carpenters’ Hall.

The robbery occurred in 1798 shortly after the vault was repaired by local blacksmith Patrick Lyons, who immediately left for Wilmington to escape the yellow fever epidemic that was sweeping Philadelphia.

“They whispered and gossiped that our good blacksmith helped himself to all that money,” Levenstien says in her performance. “It’s pretty suspicious, the timing of his move. It almost seems like he fled the scene of the crime. But Patrick is innocent and thinks he knows who did it.”

A uniquely Philadelphia program

Like all the performers in the “Once Upon a Nation” program, Levenstien is not in costume and does not portray a historic figure. Other actors in Old City do that. The “Once Upon a Nation” performers are stationed at specific benches around the Independence Mall area armed with stories that bring history to life.

The program has an archive of about 250 prepared narratives, ranging from a nautical tale about James Forten to the Philly origins of Girl Scout Cookies.

Jason Greenplate says the program, now 20 years old, is unique to Philadelphia.

“I’ve been working in museums and historic sites my whole career and have never experienced a program like it,” he said.

“There are thousands of historic districts throughout the country, in most of them you’re reading signs and looking at exhibits or looking at a map to get yourself around,” Greenplate said. “This really incorporates people and performance into the way people explore historic districts, which adds such a deep layer to exploring Philly.”

The program has a Future Storytellers contest in which children aged 8 to 12 can write a brief story about a favorite historic figure for a chance at reciting it publicly at one of the benches.

As a young girl, Levenstien entered the contest three consecutive years, writing about suffragist Alice Paul; one of the first African American women to publish a novel, Frances Walker Harper; and the abolitionist Grimke sisters, into which Levenstien roped her younger sister.

The current Future Storytellers cycle has a submission deadline of July 21.

History off the beaten path

Levenstien has aged out of Future Storytellers and committed her considerable energies to activities at Germantown Friends School, where she is president of the choir, director of the a cappella group, leader of the Environmental Action Club, captain of the mock trial team, and has performed in every school play since ninth grade. This summer she is a rising senior.

“I was looking for a summer job like any teenager and I wasn’t super-interested in scooping ice cream,” Levenstien said. “My sister had done the Future Storytellers program, she’s 12, so we had the email of someone who worked at HPI. I reached out and said, ‘Hey, are you auditioning for ‘Once Upon a Nation?’”

Greenplate recalls Levenstien was hired immediately after the first audition.

“It was a bonus that she knew the program and was involved in the Future Storytellers, but that is certainly not the reason I hired her,” he said.

“She came into the audition and knew the style and knew what we look for in storytellers, and was a wonderful storyteller,” Greenplate said. “Even if she had never done Future Storytellers, if she had the audition that she did with me I would have hired her anyway.”

Levenstien said she wanted to work in the “Once Upon a Nation” program because she gets to tell stories of American history that are off the beaten path.

“Everyone knows about George Washington and Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin. I was a Revolutionary War nerd and I could read about them in my big book of presidents,” she said. “But I wasn’t hearing the stories about Jane Johnson, who was enslaved and was able to gain her freedom with the help of William Still in Philadelphia, or Henry Box Brown, who was an enslaved man who mailed himself to the north. Stories like that, which are more niche, really attracted me to the program.”

Levenstien aspires to be one of the regulars like her “Once Upon a Nation” favorites. Her future college plans target Haverford and Bryn Mawr, which would keep her nearby and in the game.